The Runaway
by SonicCrazyGal
Summary: Brian was on his way to work when he bumps into a strange kid. He didn't think much about him at first, but once he's at work he can't stop thinking about him. Research and a little hacking inform Brian that the kid, a Danny Fenton, is in a lot deeper trouble than he would have imagined and he's determined to help.
1. Prologue

**AN: So I found Limitless on Netflix the other day and ended up watch the entire season. Yeah.. I've got a problem... Anyway, I then had this thought about what would happen if Brian met Danny and this story was born. I hope you like it and don't forget to leave a review!**

 **I don't own anything. Do I even need to say it?**

 **Prologue:**

Danny had finally escaped. How long had he been in that horrible place? Days… Months… Years..? He had no idea. Everything had been a hazy blur of painful experiments and whatever tortures his captives could come up with. Every time he closed his eyes he could see their white figures approach him… hear the insults as they sneered at him… Feel the blades as they…

Danny shook his head quickly in an attempt to steer away from those thoughts, absentmindedly rubbing his wrists. Despite having escaped several days ago, his wrists and ankles were still bruised and cut where he had been strapped down. He knew they were going to scar.

Shoving his hands into the dark hoody he had stolen, Danny's thoughts turned to his home and family. He missed them terribly and they probably thought he was dead. Well, more likely his parents thought he was kidnapped by a ghost. Knowing his luck, they were blaming everything on Phantom. His sister and friends probably had an idea of what the truth was, but must not have been able to find him. They were probably worried sick, maybe even losing hope with how long it's been. He wanted nothing more than to fly back to them and let them know he was alright.

But he couldn't risk it. His captors were most likely going to peruse him and his home would be the first place they would look. With a sigh, Danny headed deeper into the city he had found himself in. Keeping his hood up and his head down, Danny wandered through the alleys looking for a place to rest for the night. He wouldn't stop for long, for nowhere was safe for him and his pursuers could be anywhere. But he was exhausted and had barely any food since he escaped. If he didn't rest now, he would most likely collapse later and that was just asking for trouble.

Finding a well-hidden corner, Danny settled down. He fell into an uneasy sleep with plans to keep moving as soon as he could. For even though he had escaped, he still wasn't free.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: This story takes place after season 1 of Limitless. I own nothing.**

 _Brian Narrating_

 **Chapter 1:**

Brian was having a great morning. He was well rested when he woke up and it was a beautiful day outside. The only thing that could make it better was if he didn't have to go to work, but duty calls. The legion of whom was still on the loose. They had gone silent after the whole mess with Sands, but it probably wouldn't be long before they made their move once again. When they did, Brian would be ready to find them and bring them down.

He stopped at a cafe for a quick cup of coffee and a doughnut before he went in. As he came out, he accidently bumped into a teenager, knocking to the teenager to the ground and splashing coffee over his shirt. He attempted to wipe the coffee off for a second, before giving it up as a loss cause.

"You okay kid?" Brian asked, turning his attention to the teenager still on the ground. He was wearing scuffed up red shoes, torn and dirty jeans, and a dark hoody with the hood covering his face. Brian held his hand out to the kid. The kid hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

"Yeah," the kid replied as Brian helped him to his feet. Brian got a glimpse of blue eyes and black hair before the kid ducked his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Sorry about your shirt."

"Don't worry about," Brian assured, waving his hand. "I don't really care, it's just something they make me wear at work. I actually think the coffee stain is an improvement."

The teen chuckled slightly, before shifting nervously. He mumbled, "I should get going…"

"I get it, places to see and all… Here…" Brian offered his doughnut to the kid who looked surprised. "I think you need this more them I do."

"Thanks," the kid accepted the doughnut, taking a huge bite as he walked away. Brian glanced one last time at the kid before walking to his work in the opposite direction. The encounter soon faded from his mind as he entered the office. A lot of people stared at Brian's stained shirt before turning away with a shake of their heads, used to Brian's antics. Brian ignored them all and entered his reestablished HQ (technically Boyle was in charge, but it was still his), where Boyle and Rebecca were waiting.

"I thought you were actually going to improve your wardrobe," Rebecca asked with a raised eyebrow, taking in Brian's appearance.

"I said I'd try," Brian replied with a shrug. "And I did make the attempt, but I guess it's just not meant to be."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and handed Brian his NZT pill. Brian took it gladly.

"So what's on the schedule today?" Brian asked as he tossed the pill into his mouth.

"Well, earlier today we were informed…" _Boyle continued drone on about some bomber we needed to find and stop, but my mind kept going back to the kid I had bumped into this morning. I hadn't really noticed much when I first met him, but now the NZT was pointing out all the things I had missed before._

 _His clothes were in terrible condition and the way the hung indicated he was far skinnier than was healthy. He obviously hadn't had a good meal in a long time. He could have been a normal runaway, but when I helped him up I could briefly see bruises and scars on his wrists. I could tell he had been tied up for a long time and in a pretty terrible place if the faint scars on his face were any indication. His jumpy and defensive nature along with the fact that the bruises were still healing meant that he had escaped from wherever he had been held only recently and was most likely still on the run from his kidnappers. Who was this kid? Why would someone take him? Who would take him? I didn't have answers, but I knew the kid needed help._

"So what are you waiting for?" NZT Brian asked from where he appeared across from Brian. "The kid's in trouble. You can't help him just by sitting here. There's a lot of people here looking for that bomber to stop him, but no one is looking to help that kid. So get to work!"

 _Knowing I was right, I began researching for missing teenagers with black hair and blue eyes. It was both surprising and sad how many missing teenagers match that description. But I eventually found what I was looking for. The kid's name was named Danny Fenton from Amity Park, Illinois and he had gone missing six months ago. His parents were Jack and Maddie Fenton, ghost hunters by occupation. How cool was that! I wonder if they would let me join them. I could see it now…_

(Daydream)

Brian stood in a ghostbuster outfit, holding his gun with confidence. Jack was on his left, super large and muscular, flexing his thick arms. Maddie was on Brian's right, in a skimpy outfit and long hair flowing in the wind. Brian kicked open a door to a haunted house and led them through when their ghost detectors went off. A giant monstrous ghost busted up through the floor in front of them. The three shot at the ghost. The ghost roared and breathed fire. It would have hit Maddie if Brian hadn't talked her to the ground, getting them both out of the way. Jack began punching the ghost while Brian sat up and shot the ghost. The beam got the ghost right between the eyes and it exploded in a dazzling display of lights.

"You saved my life," Maddie thanked Brian. "I don't know how we could ever repay you."

"You are the best ghost hunter I've ever seen," Jack complimented. "You should stay on our team forever."

"Three cheers for Brian!" Maddie and Jack exclaimed as fireworks went off in the background.

(End Daydream)

 _Okay… So it probably wouldn't be like that exactly, but it would still be cool. The thing was, I couldn't find any of their research, like someone was covering it up. But that was nothing a little hacking couldn't fix. While I do that, why don't you look up a video about cats or something, it's a lot more entertaining than watching me type._

 _I eventually discovered there was a secret government branch called the GIW completely dedicated to studying and catching ghosts. Like really secret. I wonder if Naz even knew about them. As I started going deeper into the GIW database, I detected another hacker breaking in. They were using my own progress to further themselves into the database while simultaneously keeping me from a lot of the important files. It only took me a second to recognize the work of TooFineGeek, one of the hacktivists I had worked with before. But why was he hacking into a secret government database? And more importantly, why was he keeping me out? Did he have something to do with Danny?_

 _Before I could start learning more about TooFineGeek, Boyle came up to me._

"Brian, you need to stop wasting your time," Boyle scolded with his hands on his hips. "I'm your boss and you need to do what I say. So stop screwing around and find that bomber!"

 _Those weren't his exact words, but that was the point he was trying to get across and he had a point. Reluctantly, I stopped researching the GIW and TooFineGeek for now. But I was far from finished. As I began looking for the bomber I vowed to myself that I would solve the mystery around Danny Fenton and help him out of whatever trouble he was in._

 **AN: The adventure begins. I'll try and update this story as often as I can, but my other ones take priority.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

 _It took me the rest of the afternoon, but I was able to find the bomber. Turns out he had an extreme like for fried chicken and would order it a lot. We were able to catch him on his next order. While I felt great about stopping the guy, having to find him left me with very little NZT time left to find out more about Danny Fenton, TooFineGeek, and the GIW._

 _Deciding finding Danny was my first priority; I used the time I had let to find where he was currently hiding. I was able to use the city cameras to track him as he moved throughout the city. He eventually disappeared down an alley and didn't come out. Knowing he was most likely going to stay there for the night, I shut down my computer and headed to the street. I would reach him in about 15 minutes if he didn't move suddenly. I just hoped I would be able to convince him to let me help without the NZT._

Brian walked down the street towards the alley Danny was hiding, trying to come up with the idea of what he would say. Giving up and deciding to just wing it, Brian looked around slightly to make sure no one was watching before entering it. Walking away from the entrance, Brian spotted Danny's huddled form tucked in a small indent in the alley covered in shadow. Danny would not be seen unless someone came into the alley and once it was dark it would be nearly impossible to spot him. This only convinced Brian more that Danny was in trouble and needed help.

Moving slowly and carefully so as not to startle the kid, Brian worked his way over to where Danny was curled up. Danny didn't move his breathing slow and slightly ragged. Brian realized he was asleep. Brian crouched down and reached toward Danny to wake him up. Before Brian could even touch him, Danny suddenly turned over and grasped Brian's wrist in an iron grip, his eyes clouded with anger and fear.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Brian said calmly, holding his free hand up in surrender. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Who are you?" Danny demanded, tightening his grip on Brian. "What do you want?"

"I'm the one that gave you a doughnut this morning, remember?" Brian replied, trying not wince at the jolt of pain that went up to his wrist. "I found you in this alley and I just want to help you out?"

Danny stared at Brian intensely, looking for any sign of deception. After a tense moment, Danny released Brian's wrist and rose to his feet. Brian also stood up, rubbing his wrist. Danny had a surprisingly strong grip for someone who was so skinny; Brian could already feel a bruise starting to form.

"Why?" Danny questioned his stance defensive and his gaze suspicious. "Why do you want to help me?"

"Because I can tell you need it," Brian replied honestly, giving an encouraging smile. "So will you let me help you?"

Brian extended a hand to Danny. Danny glanced between Brian's face and his hand several times. Though he didn't take Brian's hand yet, Danny's posture did relax a little.

"I know you're worried," Brian assured, drawing Danny's attention again. "I know someone's after you. I'm with the FBI and I can…"

Brian knew he made a mistake as soon as those words left his mouth. Danny immediately stiffened after hearing FBI and his eyes started to dart around in a panic. He turned and made a dash to escape. Brian reached out to try and grab Danny and stop him, but his hand missed and Danny disappeared around the corner. Brian let out a curse and sprinted after the retreating teenager. He ran around the corner and sprinted down the area as Danny looped the next corner. When Brian reached it, Danny was nowhere in sight.

Letting out another curse and hurried down the alley and came out onto a street. Brian looked back and forth as people passed him and tried to find any sign of Danny, but there was no trace of the teenager. Looking around one last time, Brian sighed in defeat. Glancing at the alley for a second, Brian made his way down the street and headed towards home.

 _In retrospect, telling a kid that was possibly on the run from the government that you are with the government wasn't such a great idea. As much as I hated it, I knew there was no chance I would find Danny again tonight. I wasn't going to give up, though. Tomorrow I would do some more research and try and find him again. I just hope I would find some way to convince Danny that I really did want to help him._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Brian was anxious to get to work the next morning. He wanted to be able to spend as much time as he could looking for Danny and learning more about the GIW. Entering his headquarters, Brian took his NZT pill and pulled out his laptop.

"So what are you working on exactly?" Rebecca asked, looking down at Brian from the doorway. "We haven't been given a pressing assignment today, so you must be working on something else because our normal assignments today probably seem too boring to you."

"You know me too well," Brian grinned, glancing up at Rebecca before turning back to his computer. "I'm looking into the case of a missing teenager named Danny."

"Why?" Rebecca asked. "I'm all for helping kids, but there are a lot of missing teenagers. What makes this one so special? I'm sure there are plenty of people looking for him."

"He's been missing six months," Brian explained. "Most people assume he's dead. But I saw him yesterday."

"Okay, then just let the police know you found him and let them deal with the rest," Rebecca replied with a shrug. "Case solved."

"It's not that simple," Brian replied with a slight shake of his head. "There's something bigger going on here. I can't tell you what exactly, I'm still working out a lot of the details myself. But I know one thing for sure, I can't let the police or anyone where he is right now."

"Fine," Rebecca sighed, letting her arms drop to her side. "You do what you think is right in this situation. I'll handle the normal assignments."

"You're the best Rebecca," Brian replied as Rebecca turned and left. Brian immediately focused back on his computer.

 _So my first attempt to convince Danny to let me help him didn't go as I hoped. And even with NZT, I couldn't figure out how Danny had gotten away from me. I should have been able to grab his wrist when he turned to run, but I hadn't even touched him. And at the rate he had been running and his low energy, I should not have lost him. The whole thing didn't make any sense and Danny's escape was impossible._

 _But that wasn't important at the moment. The important thing right now was to find Danny before whoever was after him could find him first. To do that first, I needed to know more about Danny and find some way to get him to trust me. My best lead was TooFineGeek. After a little research, I learned his name was Tucker Foley. He was Danny's best friend, a self-proclaimed techno-geek and an expert hacker._

 _I contacted him immediately. He didn't trust me, but I managed to convince him to give me a chance to prove my sincerity. I helped him hack even farther into the GIW database. I opened the doors and he sorted through all the information. I couldn't see what was on the files, but I could tell Tucker was copying and deleting a lot of them. It would have been easy to copy the files myself, but I didn't want to risk losing my only key to Danny. At least, not right now._

 _Once our task was completed, Tucker gave me a few leads as to where to look for Danny as well as things to say when I found him. With this new information, I set out._

Brian walked through the streets and entered the park. It was evening now and most people had already gone home. Brian walked casually through the park, making sure no one was following him as he entered a particularly dense cluster of trees. Despite his best efforts, Brian couldn't help all the noise he made as he went through the underbrush. Brian soon came to the center of the cluster, out of sight from the public eye. Looking around, Brian didn't see anything obvious clues that Danny was here, but with the help of the NZT, he could hear Danny's quiet breathing and his body shifting on a branch.

Following his senses, Brian looked up at the tree that Danny was hiding in and managed to make eye contact through the leaves. Danny let out a startled gasp and fell backwards out of the tree. He landed with a hard thump, but he immediately scrambled to his feet. Knowing he didn't have time to waste, Brian spoke.

"Techno geek to Clueless 1," Brain said quickly, causing Danny to freeze in surprise. "The fruit loop will fall and the ghost getters will rise again."

The message didn't mean anything to Brian, but it obviously meant a lot to Danny. Danny spun around and stared at him wide-eyed.

"H-how d-did you..?" Danny stuttered.

"I got in contact with Tucker," Brian replied, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. "He didn't trust me right away, but he eventually told me what to say. Please, Danny… I want to help you. But I can only do that if you are willing to trust me, at least a little. "

Brian held his hand to Danny once again. Danny looked torn between running and accepting it, so he remained frozen in place.

"Danny, you can't run away forever," Brian reasoned. "No matter how fast you run or how far you go, whoever is after you will catch you eventually. But with my help and my resources, you have a chance to fight back."

That seemed to convince Danny. His eyes changed from fearful to determined and Danny accepted Brian's hand. Brian grinned and lead Danny out of the park


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

"So I've been able to piece together a little of what's going on," Brian said as he and Danny ate pizza at Brian's apartment. Brian was eating slowly, but Danny was practically inhaling his food. Not that Brian was surprised, the kid hadn't eaten well in a long time. "You were kidnapped by the GIW about six months ago and were able to escape a few days, maybe a week, ago and have been on the run since. I know your time there wasn't pleasant, but what exactly did they do to you? Why were you taken?"

"I-I'm not sure why I was taken," Danny replied quietly, curling in on himself slightly. Brian didn't need NZT to know that was a lie, but he didn't push it. "Probably because of my parents and their work. They are a ghost hunting agency after all. But while I was in there, they did… experiments. Lots and lots of painful experiments… It hurt so bad, but they didn't care. They didn't care how much I screamed… I'm worthless… a monster… a filthy piece of…."

"Danny!" Brian called when he realized Danny was starting to have a panic attack. Brian reached out to Danny, but he just flinched away. "Danny! Snap out of it!"

Danny didn't seem to hear Brian as he stumbled to his feet and backed into a corner, eyes darting frantically for an escape route. Brian got up and hurried over to Danny, moving carefully so not to scare him anymore.

"It's alright Danny," Brian said calmly, slowly approaching the shaking teenager. "You're not there anymore. You've escaped and I'm going to make sure those creeps will pay for what they've done to you. I'm going to make sure they never hurt you again."

Danny's rapid breathing slowed as Brian talked and his shaking stopped. When Brian was finally next to Danny, the teenager collapsed in his arms and began sobbing uncontrollably. Brian held him tightly as the both sunk down to the floor, rubbing Danny's back in comfort.

"It's alright," Brian comforted softly. "Everything will be alright."

Soon Danny's tears came to an end and Brian felt it was safe to release Danny from his grasp.

"S-sorry," Danny whispered as they both leaned back against the wall. "I usually have better control than that."

"Hey, if anyone deserves a break down it's you," Brian assured with a grin, bumping Danny playfully. "You've been through a lot more than most people and it's alright to let everything out every now and then. Especially after six months of torture."

"Yeah," Danny mumbled, his eyes becoming slightly unfocused as he gripped his arms and pulled his knees closer to his chest. "I guess I needed to let out all my bottled up emotions after so long. So what now?"

"Right now I believe you need a good night's sleep," Brian replied, getting up and helping Danny up as well. "Do you want the couch or the bed? I'm fine with either and I want you to have the best sleep you can have."

"The coach," Danny replied. "I don't want to kick you out of your bed and… I want to be able to hear if anyone's coming. I want to be here with more escape routes."

"Perfectly understandable," Brian agreed sadly. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will," Danny assured, curling up on the couch. "Night Brian."

"Night Danny," Brian replied, but Danny had already fallen asleep. Moving as quietly as he could, Brian went to his room and went to sleep.

The next morning, Brian was surprised to find Danny already awake. He had already taken a shower and finding some of Brian's old clothes to wear, though he still had the hoody and his red tennis shoes. Danny looked a lot better and healthier, probably thanks to a good meal and a full night's sleep. Brian was amazed at the difference.

"Morning Brian," Danny greeted cheerfully as he ate the leftover pizza. "So what's the plan for today?"

"I'm going to go to work and see what I evidence I can dig up on the GIW," Brian informed, taking a piece of himself. "They are obviously bad news and from the stories you've told me, they have little regard for human life. If I can gather enough proof, I should be able to shut them down permanently and have them all arrested."

"People won't find out about the notes of the experiments on me will they?" Danny asked nervously.

"Um no," Brian replied, slightly confused by the question. "I mean people will know they did illegal human experimentation and you might have to testify against them, but the exact nature and results of the experiments would be confidential to respect your privacy."

"Good," Danny sighed in relief, confusing Brian even more. "So what should I do in the meanwhile?"

"Just try to relax and enjoy yourself," Brian replied. "Feel free to watch TV or use anything in here. The best thing to do right is just stay out of sight and let me handle this. When I come back I'll let you know what I find."

"Sounds great," Danny replied, stretching. "I'll probably take another nap first. I have a lot of sleep to catch up on."

"I'm sure you do," Brian replied, getting up and heading towards the door. "See you later Danny and stay safe."

"I will!" Danny assured as Brian walked out the door and headed to work.

 _Despite what I told Danny, there was something else I needed to learn first. Danny was hiding something, something big. It was probably the real reason why Danny was taken and what Tucker seemed determined to protect. I didn't want to pry but I didn't have time to wait for them to open up to me either. I would not be able to protect Danny and help him hide his secret unless I knew what it was. As much as I hated it, I had to know what Danny was hiding._


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

 _As soon as I got to work, I immediately pulled up everything I could find on Danny Fenton. There was surprisingly very little about him. He seemed to be a completely normal teenager despite having eccentric parents. His school career seemed all over the place though. He had started out freshman year with pretty good grades but they started plummeting about a month after he had an accident in his parent's lab. He seemed to struggle to complete any kind of school work and yet genius magazine had credited him for making an important discovery about a purple back gorilla. How no one had figured out the gorilla was a girl before Danny did would forever be a mystery to me._

 _Anyway, along with his plummeting grades, Danny seemed notorious for ditching school and ditching in class. Yet despite all that, a lot of teachers claimed Danny was still a great kid that just seemed to get into trouble constantly. I myself could tell Danny was a kind person. Things just were not adding up._

"Maybe you're going about this the wrong way," NZT Brian suggested, leaning up against a wall. "You've been spending all your time looking into all the people involved that you're forgetting one thing."

"Ghosts," Brian replied.

"Exactly!" NZT Brian nodded. "Ghosts seem to be in the center of all this. So find out more about them and I know you'll find out what Danny's connection is."

 _I began looking into the ghosts immediately. There was surprisingly a lot of information and almost daily news articles about the ghost fights that happen in Amity. The main ghost seems to be Inviso-Bill or more commonly known as Danny Phantom. Pulling up a picture of him, the NZT began to analyze him immediately. The same facial structure and hairstyle, the same body type, and even the same first name all pointed to one thing… Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. And Phantom showed up only a month after Danny's accident. The only real difference between the two was the hair and eye color. Despite all the similarities, I wasn't surprised that no one had figured it out. Phantom was a ghost and therefore dead while Fenton was very much alive. Even with NZT I had a hard time wrapping my head around it._

 _It even explained how Danny had been able to escape from me in the alley. When I had tried to grab him, my hand had slipped through his wrist because he was using intangibility. When I had been chasing him, I had lost sight of him because he had stopped running and turned invisible. I had heard him breathing as I passed him, but I hadn't realized what it was until now. The important thing though was I now knew what Danny was hiding and I knew why the GIW had taken him. Speaking of…_

"We have a problem," NZT Brian said, making Brian look up. Talking to Naz within her office were two men dressed in white suits. Both had shaved heads and wore dark sunglasses, one was white and the other black. Brian recognized them as agents of the GIW. Naz came out with the two agents following behind her and approached the office with Brian and the others. Without letting his face betray anything, Brian closed all his research windows and deleted every trace of his for the moment as Naz and the agents enter the room.

"Agent Harris, Agent Boyle and Brian, this Agent O and Agent K," Naz introduced. "They are from another classified branch of the government and they have come to seek help locating a fugitive of theirs."

"Of course," Boyle nodded, accepting the file and opening it up. "This kid looks a little young to be a fugitive."

"Don't be fooled," Agent O replied. "He may look harmless, but he is far more dangerous than you can imagine. It is imperative that we recapture him as soon as possible."

"We've tracked him into this city," Agent K added. "But with so many people and places to hide it would take too long to try and find him ourselves. We heard your team is excellent at tracking high profile criminals in record time."

"Of course," Boyle said. "But I'm not sure all this is necessary for one missing minor.

"It is very necessary," Agent O said. "So don't treat this with anything but the utmost seriousness."

"Contact as soon as you find anything," Agent K continued. "We'll be watching your progress carefully."

With that, Naz led the agents out of the office with Brian and the others watching them leave.

"Brian," Rebecca said as soon as the agents were gone from the floor, holding the file in her hands. "This is that missing kid you were looking for the other day. Did you know he was a criminal?"

"Wait, you were looking into something and didn't tell me about it?" Boyle demanded. "Would you mind filling me in!"

"Danny isn't a criminal," Brian defended. "He's just a kid and there's a lot more going on here then you two know."

"Then tell us," Rebecca insisted.

"Not yet," Brian replied, shaking his head. "Not until I have some solid evidence. Believe me though, this is big and those guys are the real criminals here."

"Are you sure?" Rebecca questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Brian said with confidence. "This isn't the first time we've dealt with corrupted agents after all."

"Then we'll leave you to it," Rebecca concluded.

"Fine," Boyle sighed. "You better be right about this Finch."

"Don't worry," Brian grinned, interlocking his fingers and stretching his arms. "I am. When I'm through, these guys won't know what hit them."

 _While the arrival of the GIW agents wasn't unexpected, it certainly made things harder. I would have to tread very carefully so they wouldn't find out what I was doing until I was ready. And I needed to especially make sure they didn't find Danny. The poor kid had been through so much already and who knows what they would do if they got their hands on them once more. With new determination, I began searching for incriminating evidence while being very cautious to cover my tracks. I was determined to shut them down for good and make sure they would not get away with everything they had done to Danny._


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

 _The GIW were monitoring my computer, which slowed down my progress far more than I'd like to admit. I was able to get some proof of their crimes, but not enough yet to shut them down for good. Another day should be all I need, but in the meantime, Danny and I need to have a little discussion…_

"Hey," Brian called as he opened the front door to his apartment. "It's me Brian and I've brought food."

"Hi Brian," Danny replied as he came around the corner. He had been hiding and prepared to attack the potential intruder before he realized it was Brian. "What do you have this time?"

"Chinese," Brian replied, holding up his bag. "I hope you like it."

"As long as it doesn't try to attack me or has a strange glow to it I'm usually good," Danny replied, digging into the bag and pulling out the food.

"Do I want to know?" Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably not, let's just say my parent's experiments in the kitchen add some very strange outcomes. So how did your research go? Are we ready to take down the GIW yet?"

"Not yet, unfortunately. My progress was slowed by the appearance of two GIW agents, Agent O and Agent K."

"T-they're h-here? What did they want?"

"They want us to help them find and capture you. Don't worry," Brian quickly assured when he noticed Danny was about to have a panic attack. "They don't know I've already found you and I have no intention of turning you in. I even talked my team into keeping quiet about this until we have the proof we need. Don't worry Danny. I'm not letting them get you again. I promised I would help you and I still intend to."

"Thanks," Danny replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

"Are you kidding," Brian smiled. "I love these kinds of adventures. I mean this is just like out of a movie. A random guy is just minding his own business and bumps into a runaway teenager. The guy helps the teenager, who is really an undercover superhero, fight back against a corrupted secret government group. How could I possibly pass an opportunity like this?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Danny grinned before his eyes widened in fear. "D-did you say s-superhero?"

"Well specifically I said undercover superhero, but yeah," Brian confirmed cheerfully, carefully watching Danny.

"W-why would you say that? I'm not a superhero. Just your normal average teenager," Danny tried to defend casually. Unfortunately for Danny, his nervousness and fear triggered his intangibility and he ended up falling through his chair and landing roughly on the floor.

"You're right what was I thinking," Brian grinned, coming over to help Danny up. "You can't possibly be a superhero. There's nothing different about you at all."

"Stupid powers giving away my secret," Danny grumbled as Brian helped him to his feet. Danny let go of Brian's hand and eyed him warily, subtly getting into a defensive stance. "So what do you know?"

"That you're Danny Phantom and that you've been fighting off the ghosts that attack your town," Brian replied casually, sitting back in his chair. "Don't worry, I haven't told anyone and I don't plan to. But now that I know... why don't you tell me the full story about why the GIW are after you. I could probably figure it out myself, but I'd rather hear it from you."

Danny debated with himself, looking between the chair and the door. After a minute he sighed and sunk into the chair.

"I first met the GIW when my arch enemy put a million dollar bounty on my head," Danny began, staring off into the distance as he remembered. "I don't know why they didn't show up before then, considering they are supposed to be the government's ghost hunters and ghosts had been attacking for months by then, but they were kind of joke along with the rest of the hunters that showed up to try and get the bounty. Even when all the others left, the GIW stayed around and set up a base nearby.

"I never really took them seriously, but they were determined to capture me no matter what. They never really tried to stop the other ghosts or cared about the civilians lives they endangered. I evaded their attempts again and again and never really gave them any thought, but they were improving with each attempt.

"When they finally captured me, I had just spent the entire time hunting down ghosts. I now know they had released all those ghosts in order to exhaust me and it worked. I was worn out by the time they should up and I was unable to fight them off like I normally would be able to. I was taken off to some secret lab where they began their experiments.

"They didn't realize I was half human when they began, but when they did they didn't care. The things they could learn from me far outweighed any moral dilemma if they ever had morals to begin with, which I doubt. The days were all blurred together into constant pain, abuse and experiments. I think they were trying to replicate my powers, but it didn't work. I think they were going try and turn me into a weapon next, but I escaped before they could implement their plan. I had been lucky. They thought I was weak and broken so they relaxed their guard enough that I could get out. From there I just ran as far as I could. I couldn't risk using my ghost powers very often because they could track that. When I got to the nearest town, I stole a hoody to hide my ruined and blood stained shirt along with all my wounds and scars. I snuck onto a bus and somehow ended up here. You know the rest after that," Danny concluded.

"Yeah," Brian agreed sadly as he digested everything Danny had told him. He already knew the GIW were bad news and Danny's story just proved it. "Thank you for confiding in me."

"I figure you kind of deserved it since your doing so much for me," Danny shrugged. "Let's just make sure we take those monsters down."

"I couldn't have said it any better."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

 _The next morning I left Danny in the apartment once again and headed for work. As soon as I could I began digging up more evidence on the GIW. Despite the slow progress, I was able to get all I needed by lunch time and I was confident enough to show what I had gathered to the others._

"You weren't kidding when said there was a lot more going on than we knew," Rebecca said as she read through the file. "Illegal experiments, endangering of citizens, lots of property damage… I'm surprised they've been able to get away with all this for so long."

"But not anymore," Boyle added. "We need to take this to Naz and shut them down."

"Great," Brian grinned getting up. "You guys do that and I'll go tell Danny."

"You can't do that Brian," Rebecca interrupted, making Brian pause. "At least not yet. You are the one who found all this evidence; you have to be here when we present it."

"Fine," Brian sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "Let's go get this over with."

The three walked into Naz's office and gave her the file. As she read it, her expression didn't change but Brian could see her becoming tenser as time passed. He could tell she was furious by what she read, her eyes scanning the pages quickly. When she finished, she gently closed the folder and placed it in front of her.

"Thank you for your information," Naz said stiffly. "When those agents came in, I sensed there was something off about them but I would never have guessed it was to this extent. This goes beyond a few rogue agents; this is the blatant abuse of power and corruption."

"So you'll help us clear Danny's name," Rebecca said cautiously.

"Oh I'll do more than that," Naz said coldly, calmly rising to her feet. "I am going to _destroy_ them. They will never see the light of day again."

"Then we'll leave you to it," Brain grinned before turning and leaving the office.

 _I had no doubt that Naz would keep here word. And with that all taken care of, I couldn't wait to tell Danny the good news._

Brian walked up the stairs to his apartment, but as he got closer he knew something was wrong. There was a slight burnt smell in the air and when he grabbed the doorknob the weight of the door felt off. He carefully pulled the door open, checking thoroughly for any sign of a booby-trap. There wasn't one, instead, there was a scorch mark on the inside of the door. Alarmed Brain yanked the door completely open and hurried inside. The apartment was completely trashed, the coffee table was flipped on its side, the windows were shattered, there were scorch marks everywhere and Brian even saw a faint trail of blood leading from the living room to the kitchen.

Walking slowly to the center of the room, Brian carefully analyzed everything to piece together what happen.

 _The GIW had obviously learned Danny was here,_ Brian thought to himself. _Whether they discovered that by following me or by some other means isn't important. Danny had been lying on the couch reading when he must have heard something because he must have been sitting up when several GIW agents came bursting through the window. He ducked away from their first few shots and flipped the coffee table to give him some cover as he fought back._

 _At that point, more agents came in through the front door completely surrounding him. At that point, he must have used his powers to make a shield or something to reflect most of these blasts. The continuous fire drained him, though, causing him to drop his shield to drop leaving open to getting shot, probably in the shoulder._

 _Wounded, Danny made a break for the kitchen, He didn't get very far before he was knocked out and then dragged away. He's was taken several hours ago. They could have tried to flee with him, but it's more likely they took him to a secure location within the city. I will need to work fast to find him, who knows what torture they have planned for him._

His decision made, Brian pulled out his cell phone and called Rebecca.

"Hey," Rebecca greeted. "How'd Dann-"

"Danny's gone," Brian cut to the point, making his way out of the building. "The GIW got to him and we need to find him fast. I loathe the idea of what they're doing to him, especially if they know I'm onto them."

"I agree," Rebecca replied seriously. "I'll begin the search right away. We will get Danny back."

"I know, I'm going to make sure of it," Brian said in determination as he hung up the phone. Slipping the phone into his pocket, Brian hurried as quickly as he could back to work.

 _I had promised Danny he would never be in the hands of the GIW again, but I had underestimated the GIW and now Danny was suffering for my mistake .I would not make the same mistake again. Thankfully, I knew a certain techno geek that not only was familiar with how the GIW operated but would be more than willing to help me find their base and take them down. I would not be taking any more chances, not with Danny's life at stake._


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

 _Tucker was more than happy to help me find the GIW's base once he learned of the situation. By working together, we were able to track their base to the warehouse district. I wasn't allowed to help with the raid but I can easily imagine how it went…_

 _(Daydream)_

 _Rebecca and Boyle have body armor on and their guns were drawn. Behind them is a large number of people in full SWAT gear. They carefully approached the door._

 _"Everyone ready for this?" Rebecca asked, looking around at everyone. Everyone nodded with grim and determined expressions. "Then let's take these sickos down."_

 _With a nod to Boyle, Rebecca and Boyle kicked the door opened and rushed in with the rest of the agents. They are met with a faceless army of GIW agents which begin firing green lasers from their guns. Rebecca and Boyle dive dramatically to the side and their SWAT team opens fire, downing a few of the GIW agents. While the two armies continue to fire on each other, Rebecca and Boyle work their way further into the base._

 _They are ambushed as they turn a corner in the hallway by five GIW agents. They are unable to raise their guns in time and are forced to fight hand to hand. Boyle knocks one guy out with a strong punch to the face while Rebecca flips another into a wall. Rebecca then roundhouse kicks an agent into another and takes them both out of the fight. Boyle and the last agent are going toe to toe before Rebecca comes up from behind and knocks the agent out with her guy._

 _Rebecca and Boyle take a moment to catch their breath before breaking into a well secure door. Inside is a GIW agent sitting behind a desk, looking at a half dozen monitors on the wall behind him. The monitors show the fight between the GIW and the FBI agents._

 _"You are making a mistake you know," the GIW said, still facing the monitors. "We aren't the villains here. We are trying to protect everyone from the real enemy."_

 _"Right ghosts," Boyle scoffed. "And to do protect everyone you endanger regular citizens and then kidnap, torture, and experiment on some poor kid. Sorry if I have a hard time believing you."_

 _"Am I correct to assume you're the leader of this base?" Rebecca inquired, her eyes burning with anger._

 _"You are," the GIW leader confirmed, finally turning look at them._

 _"Then order your men to stand down," Rebecca demanded. "We have you outnumbered and surrounded. Don't let there be any more bloodshed."_

 _"Never," the leader growled. He kicked the desk flying toward Rebecca and Boyle who just managed to dive out of the way. When the two of them rolled to their feet, they could see that the GIW leader was dressed in some sort of high-tech battle armor. Pulling out a sword that glowed with green energy, the GIW leader charged Rebecca. Rebecca forced to go on the defensive as she dodged the sword. Boyle managed to take aim and shoot. The GIW leader tried to dodge, but he still got his in the shoulder. It didn't really hurt him because of his armor, but it did distract him long enough for Rebecca to finish him._

 _With a sigh of relief, Rebecca went to the intercom and turned it on announcing, "Attention all GIW agents. Your leader as fallen and none of you will be able to escape. Surrender now and things will be easier for you."_

 _Rebecca stepped back and she and Boyle left to find Danny. They found him in a random cage and they freed him. When he got out, Danny hugged them and thanked them over and over again…_

 _(End Daydream)_

"That's… surprisingly accurate," Rebecca admitted when she and Boyle reunited with Brian at the office.

"Wait really?" Brian asked in disbelief. "You're guys life was actually as exciting as my imagination for once? That's never happened before."

"Believe me," Boyle shook his head. "I'm still getting over the green laser guns too. They weren't particularly deadly, but they left one nasty burn."

"Well, I figured they'd use ectoplasm based weapons," Brian shrugged. "But what about the sword and armor on the big boss? I was just thinking that for fun."

"But it did really happen," Rebecca replied. "Though I took him down right away so there was a lot less of a battle. The only thing you didn't get correct is Danny. We found him strapped to a table in a lab. He was unconscious and looked pretty battered he's in a hospital now and the doctors say he should make a full recovery."

"I knew that was probably going to be the case," Brian winced in sympathy. "But I didn't want to admit it. I like my version a lot better."

"So do I, but at least Danny's safe now. We've contacted his family on his whereabouts and their making arrangements to come and get him. It'll probably be a few days, though. In the meantime, want to help us prepare all the evidence you've gathered for the court case?"

"I'd love to, but I want to visit Danny first."

"Of course Brian."

 **AN: I'll post the final chapter tomorrow.**


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

 _"It's been several days since a warehouse with a rogue government branch was stormed and the people there arrested,"_ A blond female newscaster reported from a TV screen. _"Many of them will be serving several life sentences for their many crimes. Those crimes include multiple accounts of property damage, citizen endangerment, and most shocking of all the kidnapping and illegal experimentation of a teenager by the name of Daniel Fenton, who had been taken from his home and family over six months ago. The exact nature of these experiments is unknown, but Daniel has been in the hospital since being rescued. Thankfully it seems he will make a full recovery and will be able to go home soon. Now the results of today's games are…"_

"Did they have to mention my name?" Danny grumbled as he turned away from the TV and crossed his arms, careful not to pull on the IV line in his arm. He was currently sitting in a hospital bed with various machines and monitors around him. A blanket covered the lower half of his body and he leaned back against a pile of pillows. His arms and hands had several bandages on them leading under his shirt and there was a small bandage on his cheek.

"We did our best to protect your information, but unfortunately a big news story like this couldn't be completely buried," Brian replied, sitting in a chair next to Danny. "But don't worry, I made sure no one knows about your secret and your friend Tucker had already been thorough in erasing any recorders pertaining to you and your other half. Other than that you're famous now. I'm sure you'll be pretty popular at home now."

"I got over wanting to be popular a long time ago," Danny scoffed. "It's not all it's cracked up to be and just makes leaving for my job even harder. But I'm sure people will get over it pretty quickly once they realize I'm still the same old Danny."

"Perhaps, but I know several people that will be happy to have plain old Danny back."

"Who?"

Brian didn't answer; instead, he got up with a smile. He opened the door and Danny only saw a massive blur of colors before he was enveloped by several sets of arms.

"Danny!" the mass cried who Danny now recognized as his friends and family.

"Guys!" Danny gasped. "I c-can't b-breath!"

They complied with Danny's request and backed off with sheepish smiles and a few blushes. Danny took a deep breath before turning back to his family with a smile.

"It's great to see you again Danny-boy," Jack beamed. "You had us all worried for a while, but I knew you'd come through. You're a Fenton after all."

"Oh, my poor baby, taken by those awful men," Maddie cried, hugging Danny again and then whispered in his ear. "Why didn't you tell us who you were? We could have helped you and saved you from so much pain."

Danny's eyes widen as he looked at his mom before looking over at his sister and friends. They were looking away with slightly guilty expressions on their faces.

"We had to tell them, Danny," Jazz defended. "You had been gone for days and we had no idea where you were and all our attempts to find you were useless. We couldn't possibly hide it from them any longer."

"Yeah, I should have figured that would happen," Danny sighed before turning back to his mom. "But I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. I guess being kidnapped kind of made that pointless huh."

"If I ever get my hands on those monsters…" Sam growled, wringing the air front of her with her hands.

"Calm down Sam," Danny said, putting his hand on hers. "We already made sure those jerks are going to pay for all their crimes."

"Yeah," Brian agreed, drawing the attention of the group. "With all the evidence I found and Naz's influence, you'll never have to worry about them again."

"Thank you so much for all you've done for Danny Mr. ..?" Maddie began gratefully.

"Just call me Brian."

"You're the one I was helping right?" Tucker asked. "You were a great help and an excellent hacker."

"So are you," Brian complimented. "I didn't even realize you had been pigging backing off of my hack until you stated blocking things I was trying to get into."

"Why thank you," Tucker grinned, puffing out his chest slightly. "I take great pride in my skills as a techno geek."

"And an ego to match," Sam teased, punching Tucker on the shoulder and making him yelp. "But seriously, thank you Brian. We might never have been able to save him otherwise."

"I was happy to help. He's a great kid," Brian said, smiling as he watched the family interact. While he did enjoy catching bad guys and solving things no one else could, it was this that truly made everything worth it.

 **AN: I had a great time writing this story and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Merry Christmas everyone!**


End file.
